196 FIELD MEETINGS. 
company numbered sixty, the larger number ttavelling from Dum- 
fries, and smaller contingents coming from Moffat, Lockerbie, 
and Annan. Assembling at Lockerbie, they left the town by way 
of Dryfe Bridge, where the remnant of the old churchyard re- 
called the rhyme about “ spades and schules,’’ and cast their eye 
over the battlefield of Dryfesands. Turning to the right at the 
hamlet of Millhousebridge, they drove along the left bank of the 
Annan by a finely wooded road to Jardine Hall. Arriving in 
front of the stately mansion—which dates from 1814, but has 
been something like trebled in size by its present owner—they 
were cordially welcomed by Mr Jardine, and found a generous 
luncheon awaiting them in a marquee which had been erected on 
the lawn. Thus fortified, they crossed the Annan by a foot- 
bridge and proceeded to Spedlins Tower, which crowns a rising 
ground on the right bank of the river. It is a border keep of the 
larger class, and its outer walls are practically perfect, thanks 
largely to the care of Mr Jardine, who has had judicious repair 
carried out where required, and has erected a protecting fence 
around it. The roof is a double one, with stone gutter between. 
Circular angle turrets, with massive rope mouldings, give a 
decorative element to the architecture. The tower was the family 
residence of the proprietor of Applegarth estate until the erection 
of a new dwelling-house, where the gardens now are, and which 
was in turn superseded by Jardine Hall early in last century. 
Now many lintels of the tower have given way under the pressure 
of superincumbent masonry, and time has otherwise made con- 
siderable ravages with the interior walls. The tragic story of the 
starving of a prisoner in the dungeon is the incident that seizes 
the popular imagination in regard to Spedlins. According to the 
commonly accepted account it was an unfortunate miller who 
met this fate. Until a comparatively recent date a mill stood in 
close proximity to the castle, and the point where the “ race ”’ 
entered the Annan is still pointed out. Tradition has it that 
Porteous, the tenant, set the mill on fire, and for the deed was 
consigned to the dungeon, and there forgotten when the baronet 
and his retinue rode off to Edinburgh. Several of the visitors de- 
scended by a ladder into the dungeon. It is really a cupboard 
built in the thickness of the outer wall, and entered from the 
top by an opening at the foot of the staircase that leads from the 
great hall to the apartments above. It is fifteen feet deep, nine 
